Cycle-wheel



.'(No Model.)

A. PERKINS. CYCLE WEEEL.

No. 508,888. Patented 808. 17,1898.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

ALBERT PERKINS, OF CHICOPEE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE A. G.SPALDING & BROTHERS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AND THE LAMB KNITTING MACHINEMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICOPEE,

MASSACHUSETTS.

CYCLE-WH EEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 506,858, dated October17,1893.

Application filed July 8, 1 893.

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT PERKINS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicopee, in the county of Hampden and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCycle-Wheels, of which the following is a specification. The inventionrelates to the hub and parts adjacent thereto and its object is tosecure new advantages with lessened weight and largely decreased cost.

In the drawings,-Figure lis a side View of a front wheelhub. Fig. 2 isan axial section of the same hub with parts added to convert it into adriving hub. Fig. 3 shows in like section certain of the parts of Fig. 2separated so that they may be more clearly seen.l Fig. 4 illustrates aslight modification.

In these figures A is a tube having upon its end portions, respectively,a flanged sleeve B, a plate B provided with an outwardly turned,spoke-receivin g flange B, and an outwardly turned, ball-seat cup Ehaving a central, tubular neck flared out at its inner end to form abrace-like support for one side of the plate B which upon the other sideis supported by the iange upon the sleeve B. These three piecesare,preferably, internally threaded and screwed upon the tube A and arethen rigidly fixed to it and to each other by means that make the wholestructure continuously connected metal. A ball seat I is removablysecured in each cup` E by gently pressing it into place. This has amarginal iiange I that, when the seat is in place, covers the margin ofthe cup E, and has also around its central opening a flange formed bythe projecting end of a thimble N inserted in said opening and held inplace bya ange N that lies between the seat and the end of the tube A.Over the ball seat is placed a cover or dust cap L Whose marginal angefits about the flange I but is secured thereto only by its frictionalhold thereon. The dust cap is centrally perforated for the passage of anaxle J and bearing cone J thereon and has an annular depression aboutthe opening to receive a soft washer M. This depression is produced bybending the metal inward and Serial No. 479.945. (No model.)

the inner face is thus brought so near the end of the thimble N that theballs K cannot pass between them, and hence cannot escape when the axleis withdrawn. It' the cone J be removed, the ball seat, balls, thimbleand cap may be removed as a unit, cleaned and replaced, or while removedmay, if desired, be separated for repair or substitution of parts andmay then be reassembled and restored to position.

The flanges B of the plates B are provided with open marginal slots Beach at its entrance equal in width tothe diameter of a headed spoke Dand each at the inner end equal in width to the diameter of a shortflanged eyelet C slipped over the spoke. The iange B is at some distancefrom the axial portion of the hub and the eyelet is never of a lengthgreater than this distance, and hence it follows from the constructionthat when the eyelet is brought as it may be, wholly within the circleof the flange, the body of the spoke slips freely into or out of theslot; but when the spoke is drawn longitudinally outward so that theeyelet passes through the flange, neither the spoken or the eyelet canby any possibility be detached. So far as attaching and detaching areconcerned, it is evident Vthat the common butt-ended spokemay besubstituted for the construction shown,it being only necessary that theend portion of the spoke should be enlarged in some manner, and that theenlargement should not be for a distance greater than the distance fromthe axial portion of the hub to the flange. When a driving hub isdesired, a sleeve F having a flange F is slipped upon one of the cups Eand rigidly fixed thereto. Over the sleeve is passed an annular sprocketwheel G, preferably recessed upon one face to receive the full thicknessof the fiange F, to which it is secured by screws H and a friction screwH. The former work in apertures threaded in the flange only, and projectthrough the latter to receive lock-nuts H. The latter is conical andworks in apertures threaded in both ange and wheel but normally slightlyodset with reference to each other. It follows that when this screw isdriven inward with some force it wedges itself firmly and at the sametime locks the other screws by causing a slight relative rotation of thewheel and ange. EX- tended practical tests show that with thisconstruction the very desirable expedient of attaching the sprocketwheel by screws may be used with perfect safety.

Fig. 4 shows the inner margin of the ball seat bent up to form a flangereplacing that obtained in the principal form by the use of the thimbleN.

The tube A and all the'parts integrally connected therewith, the ballseat, the thimble, and the dust cap, are all of rolled or drawn steel.

What I claim is- 1. The combination with a wheel hub, of a flangesecured to the same, a sprocket Wheel fitting against the side of saidange, and a conical screw passing through both to secure them together.

2. The combination with a hub having a projecting sprocket wheel flange,a sprocket wheel fitting against the side of the flange, screws passingthrough both to secure them together, and a conical screw working inthreaded apertures in both, said apertures being normally slightly osetwhen the screws rst named are in position; whereby the conical screwwhen forced home may cause relative rotation 'of the sprocket Wheel andtlange and thus bind the screws rst named.

3. The combination with a ball seat having an axialopening,of allangeprojecting, around said opening, into the plane of the ball space, and acentrally open dust cap covering said seat and lying at less than aballs diameter from said llange.

4. A ball case consisting of a centrally perforated cup a flangeprojecting into the cup around the perforation, and a centrally openanged cover titting upon said cup and lying at less than a ballsdiameter from said flange.

5. The combination with a hub having at its end a ball seat cup, of aball seat removably secured in said cup and having a central opening anda marginal flange covering the edge of the cup, a flanged thimbleprojecting through the central opening to form a flange within thecircle to be occupied by the balls, and a dust cap forming a cover forsaid space and lying at less than a balls diameter from said flange.

6. The combination with the central hub tube, of the anged sleeves, theplates having the outwardly turned [langes provided with the internallywidened open slots, and the end cups having flared necks, all unitedinto one whole of continuous metal.

vALBERT PERKINS.

Witnesses:

THOMAS C. PAGE, SIDNEY SANDERS.

